Op"rators Committee Discusses Redwood Strike

An open letter from the Redrvood Operators Committee, and signed by Executive Director Ben S. Allen, explains in interesting detail the present status of the long continued strike at eight California Redr,vood sawmills, and presents some new aspects of the situation, in the following manner:

"The redwood lumber industry now has the dubious distinction of being afflicted with the longest strike in the country. This strike has just entered upon its sixteenth month.

"I shall not give you a detailed history of the strike. You will find these details very adequately covered in the brief submitted by the struck redr,vood operators to the Senate and House Labor Committees. It is interesting to note that extracts from this brief have been used on two occasions in the Senate debate on pending lbbor legislation. Senator Taft quoted in some detail material in the brief in his opening argument about the necessity of amending the Wagner Act.

"Not the length of the strike, but its present status, I feel will excite your interest and justify this letter.

"The strike in the redwood producing area, both in the woods and at the mills has become merely technical and the thin picket lines constitute only a futile gesture. Redwood lumber is being produced by the eight struck companies, shipped and sold. All of the mills are operating at normal or near normal capacity while the production of some is greater than in pre-strike days.

"You may well ask, 'What then is keeping the strike alive?' Nothing, except hot cargo and the secondary boycott. So-called 'hot redrvood' from the eight struck companies is being boycotted throughout the United States and Canada. In some of the best redwood markets in the country this boycott is 'ivithout any effect, and in others it is only applied sporadically.

"In California some of the large retail lumber yards and building contractors respect the boycott, although its use in this state is illegal. But these yards and 'construction jobs have closed shops and they do not choose to risk strikes by their own employees. Horvever, the struck lumber companies have no difficulty in disposing of all of the lum- ber they desire to sell in California. Ironical as it may sound, the distribution and use of this so-called 'hot redwood' in California is called 'bootlegging,' despite the fact that the sale and use of such lumber is entirely lawful.

"There is growing evidence the A. F. of L. Carpenters and Joiners are getting tired of paying benefits to a de{unct strike and losing work in efforts to enforce the secondary boycott.

"There is only one reason why the redwood lumber strike is still in existence. It has now become purely a technical strike. That fact is due to the provision of the one-sided National Labor Relations Act, which disfranchises the present employees of the struck redwood operations. They have practically full crews but the certified bargaining agency is the union which went on strike fifteen months ago. The employers cannot negotiate. with their present crews and have even been threatened with charges of unfair labor practices for raising their wages. The struck operators are convinced that this anomalous situation can be cured permanently only through legislation."

Allied Veneer & Lumber Co. Moves to New Loccrtion

Allied Veneer & Lumber Co., rvholesalers of cabinet veneers and plywood, moved May 23 to their own new building at 5100 South Boyle Avenue, Los Angeles. Their new telephone number is LUcas 7Dl. The new building, built for an airplane hangar, has floor space of 24,000 square feet, and the site has a total area of two acres.

In speaking of the company's move, Otis H. Fine, president, remarked that the larger site provides space for giving improved service to customers, as rvell as ample space for customers' parking.

"We plan to enlarge our stocks of veneer and plyrvood to take care of expanded business. We started in this business in 1930, and have made a steady growth, and are still expanding," Mr. Fine said.

Nationwide Meeting for Lumbermen

Washington, D.C.-The nation's lumbermen-mill operators, loggers, distributors, and forestry specialists-will convene at the Congress Hotel in Chicago, June 16, for a three-day general meeting of the lumber industry.

This American Lumber Congress, sponsored by the National Lumber Manufacturers Association, will bring together representatives of the producers, marketers, and consumers of lumber for participation in discussions on the pertinen't issues confronting the industry.

Highlighting this historic meeting will be addresses by prominent lumbermen and nationally known figures in public life and industry.

Senator Guy Gordon and Representative Harris Ellsworth, of Oregon, and Representative Everett Dirksen, Illinois, will be among the featured speakers.

Corydon \Magner, Tacoma, Washington, president of the American Forest Products Industries' Incorporated, rvill headline the session devoted to the "National Timber Supply." Ray Saberson, Weyerhaeuser Sales Company, St. Faul, will lead the panel on "MarketS." Q. T. Hardtner, lJrania, Louisiana, president of the Southern Pine Association, and C. C. Sheppard, Clarks, Louisiana, chairman of the Southern Pine Industry Committee, are two of the -outstanding leaders in the lumber manufacturing industry rvho will be featured in the program.

The session devoted to research will feature demonstrations of new products and uses of wood developed in industry laboratories and an address by a nationally known scientist who will discuss the contribution of research to the future of our economy.

"The high enthusiasm for this meeting is tangible evidence that the lumber industry is alive to its responsibilities in this postwar period," said C. Arthur Bruce, NLMA President. "The industry has made great strides in the philosophy and technology of growing, harvesting, ancl utilizing trees since our last general meeting a quarter century ago," Mr. Bruce added. "At this meeting we will plan for the Tuture-the future of our industry and its relationship with the future of our economy."

Carl W. "Duke" Watts, San Francisco wholesale lumberman, is back at his headquarters from a recent trip to Portland, Tacoma, and Seattle, where he called on lumber mills and plywood plants.